


Bonds

by Pixxyofice



Series: Regrow - A Persona 4 Arcana Swap AU [12]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arcana Swap (Persona Series), Gen, New Game Plus, but with a twist!, here you go folks some social links
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:54:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29790867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixxyofice/pseuds/Pixxyofice
Summary: The power of the Wild Card was the ability to have many Personas. Those many Personas were powered up by the bonds between the Wild Card and others. Yukiko has to make bonds.Yukiko feels the power of strengthened bonds through the memories of Souji, and she wonders... how?
Series: Regrow - A Persona 4 Arcana Swap AU [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935223
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	Bonds

Youko was a young girl with flaming orange hair and a soft face. She wore a headband with fox ears on it, which blended with her hair. She often wore a smile on her face, even while reading into books Yukiko did not see herself ever understanding.

Her interest in herbal plants was odd, but.. Yukiko remembered laughing at things nobody found funny, remembered how her interests in bugs and fauna got her teased.

Yukiko, with a heart starting to pull down its own walls, didn't want the same to happen to Youko.

There's a hum of power from Angel when Yukiko talked with Youko, and Youko's bright smile and shimmering eyes only made Yukiko want to talk with her more.

_ There's a shape of a small girl, made with wisps of mist, swaying with a smile on her face. She wears pink beads in her brown hair, and what seems to be dirt covers her fingers. _

_ She's talking to the Souji Seta they know so little about. _

_ Yukiko feels Uriel stir inside her. Uriel reaches out, pulling the lingering power of a social link towards her. It's strong, even though Yukiko knows it was just a shred of what the actual social link's power must've been. _

_ Souji Seta is a wildcard, like her. _

_ This girl was his Justice. And it must've been maxed out. _

_ How did he develop a Shadow?  _

Yumi Ozawa was a hard working actress and a mother. She cooked with a smile on her face, sung to Youko whenever she arrives home, and made sure the house was neat and organized. Even if her scripts were scattered on the kitchen table at times. As much as this felt more like a true family to Yukiko, something felt... off about the way Yumi looked at Youko.

While Yukiko was helping Yumi organize the scripts on the table, her eyes trailed on the shape of a feminine silhouette, and her mind was brought back to Youko.

"Do you really love Youko-chan?" Yukiko asked, reaching out to pick up the script she spotted.

"OF COURSE I DO!" Yumi shouted, and Yukiko's entire body felt like it was going to curl in on itself. Yumi slammed the pile of scripts she had been carrying back onto the table. "Everything I do is for her! I try to be active in her life, I try to support her dreams, I'm doing everything a mother should!"

Yukiko's breath felt light. Her head hurt, and the humming of the electronics near her were becoming almost unbearable.

Yumi noticed. Guilt flashed on her face. Yumi rushed over, reaching out her hand and stopping right before she actually touched Yukiko's arm.

"I'm sorry," She whispered, "I shouldn't have shouted at you. Should we go outside?"

As Yukiko took Yumi's hand, trying to push back the rapid beating of her heart, she felt the fluttering of Anzu within her.

_ "Thank you." _

_ A gruff man lays a hand on the shoulder of Souji Seta, and the gray-haired boy jumped slightly. Souji glanced over to the misty form, who laughed heartily at the reaction. _

_ "Guess I can surprise you sometimes, huh?" He smirks, lifting his hand off of Souji's shoulder. "... But, really. Thanks." His smile becomes soft again. "I don't think we could be doing this," He gestures out to the yard, where the girl with low pigtails is playing with a cat, "without you having come here." _

_ Souji smiles, looking out to the yard. He seems tired, but also at peace. "I'm glad to be a part of your family." _

_ Yukiko feels the ringing of Daisoujou in her head, a comforting sound. With each ring, the fragments of the bond pull towards Yukiko. With each ring, Yukiko realizes that this, too, was just a small sliver of the power this social link had for Souji. _

_ Souji's Hierophant was also maxed out. _

_ Souji had an uncle and a cousin, like how Yukiko has an aunt and a cousin. _

_ Was she connected to him, in some way? She can't help but feel like she's heard his voice before... _

Nanako Dojima glanced over to Yukiko, wrapping a small bandage over her finger. The long-haired teenager waved her free hand in the air, smile on her face. "You're the new transfer, right?" She brushed some hair behind her shoulders, then looked back to the board, where Yukiko looked as well. A bunch of school club advertisements were hung up on the board, ranging from sports clubs to culture clubs to...

A gardening club? Yukiko blinked, looking a bit closer. 

Youko would love to have someone able to help her.

Unlike the other clubs, the Gardening Club didn't seem to have a name on it.

"Oh, you want to join the Gardening Club?" Nanako gasped, and Yukiko glanced over to the teen, who was holding her hands clasped together in front of her chest with a wide smile. "Oh, that'd be wonderful! It's the first club I'm leading, last year I was just tending to the flowers by myself!" Nanako reached out and grabbed Yukiko's hands in her own, eyes sparkling. "Please? I know you might want to join the other clubs too, but you can be in multiple! I'm in multiple!"

Yukiko let a nervous smile rise on her face. This was... a bit over the top. But something in her wanted to get to know Nanako, wanted to see why Nanako was leading a club by herself...

Yukiko tried to let her smile look less hostile. "I'll join."

"Yay!"

Within her, Cu Sith hummed with energy.

_ That is a young version of Yumi Ozawa sitting there on the misty bench. The others in the group may not know it— though Yukiko does notice Saki narrow her eyes slightly— but Aunt Ozawa showed Yukiko and Youko various pictures of herself in high school, and this misty recreation of her... looks basically like the pictures Yukiko saw. _

_ "I was acting," Yumi says, the high school version sitting next to Souji Seta, "To— To claw my way away from the feelings of my father and my family, put them on a pedestal..." _

_ Yukiko thinks to her aunt, happily acting. To Youko, mentioning that after Ayane's death, Yumi auditioned for more and more roles. Yukiko watches as the memory of Souji places a hand on Yumi's shoulder in comfort, though the words of the other wild card are lost to her thoughts. _

_ Was this what Yukiko was missing? Even if the bond Yukiko had with her Yumi— which felt weird to think— was different from the bond Souji had with his Yumi, there were still similarities... _

_ Tam Lin hummed, and Yukiko focused her attention on the bond. Yumi, the Souji one, was a Sun Link. Maxed as well. _

_ Yumi Ozawa was a person in common, but she was... different. Younger. But Souji was a high school student in both the memory and in how the Shadow presented himself. It couldn't be a situation of a shadow simply presenting itself younger, it didn't seem like the Shadows could manipulate their appearances to that degree.  _

_... Could they? _

_ "Could the shadow be a past version of the person we're looking for?" Yukiko asked, and all attention was on her as the misty memory faded away. Purrci's breath somehow shuddered, and she gave the cat an odd look. "What?" _

_ "I—" Purrci let his ears lay down on his head. "I didn't consider that a Shadow could do that." _

_ Something seemed off about that. But Yukiko couldn't pinpoint what, so they went on to the next memory. _

Yukiko practiced some basic kicks with the soccer ball, passing it from foot to foot with an ease she didn't know she had. Maybe it was because of the whole Persona thing. Maybe it was because she had done a bit of practice as a child.

It was probably the Persona thing. Yukiko placed a foot on her ball, stopping it. A small smile quirked up on her lips. Her persona, a dancing lady with a cherry blossom aesthetic that tossed around fire, helping her... kick a ball around. Truly, the greatest use of a Persona's skill. Not the fire, not the sword stabs...

Yukiko felt the hairs on her arms raise. She didn't question why, she just swung around with her lifted leg and blocked the soccer ball that was punted straight for her. She spun around with her other foot now, kicking it back towards the attacker.

A girl with light, curly brown hair, tied up in a ponytail, stopped the ball with her foot with a smirk. "Looks like we have a worthy player on the team!" She kicked the ball into the air and caught it, putting it beneath her arm. Another teammate rolled her eyes, but the ponytail girl ignored them as she walked towards Yukiko. "You've got some skill, but are you up to the challenge?"

Yukiko blinked. What was this challenge about? She just wanted to play some soccer.

"Sure." Yukiko said as her response, and the other girl immediately made that feel like a mistake when she grinned, teeth gleaming. 

"Good!" The ponytail girl bowed slightly. "Name's Eri Minami." She lifted herself from her slight bow. "I'm gonna kick your ass."

Yukiko felt Sandman stir inside her and felt dread.

_ Seeing Kou and Daisuke act like this was so fucking weird. _

_ Yukiko feels she deserved that swear, just based off of that alone. _

_ Kou makes a joke about Daisuke not wanting to date another girl because of him being gay and not because fear of failure, and Daisuke snorts into his coffee. Souji makes a comment about him spreading his gay, and Kou chokes on his tea, which makes Souji have to physically restrain himself from laughing. _

_ It's so weird. Seeing the two of them be actually friends, and not working back towards the friendship she heard about so much from the both of them... And this Souji... _

_ Purrci makes a choked noise. Yukiko looks over to see Purrci putting his paw back by his side. "Having a good friend group like that..." Purrci says, voice trailing from happy to neutral, "must feel good." _

_ Something in her screams that Purrci is saying something beneath those words. _

_ The misty memory speaks again, though, and Yukiko turns her attention back to it. _

_ "Thanks," Kou places his cup of tea down, pressing a napkin to his face. "I needed that, especially after..." Kou trails off, eyes looking at the misty table. If Yukiko squints, she can see the faint outline of a paper. "...well, this." _

_ "And thanks," Daisuke follows up, simply brushing off his jumpsuit. "For helpin' me put more of myself into things. Helped up my game." _

_ Yukiko cannot handle how the misty memory Daisuke is acting in particular. Judging by the stares of the other team members, neither can they.  _

_ The more solid form of the memory Souji smiles. He opens his mouth to say something, but the mist fades away.  _

_ Kali dances within Yukiko, power coursing in her, and Yukiko is once again facing the fragmented power of a maxed out social link. Kou and Daisuke, Strength. _

_ If Souji had these strong of bonds, how did he develop a Shadow? _

Nanako put her watering can down with a smile on her face. The girl turned to Yukiko, about to speak, but noticed something that made smile fade to a frown.

Yukiko turned around to where Nanako was looking. Leaning on the building with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth was a teenage boy, with scruffy hair and the beginning of some stubble on his chin. He held his school jacket on his shoulder.

His face looked kind of similar to Nanako's.

Yukiko heard Nanako take a deep breath.

"Hey, Ryotaro!" Nanako stepped out from behind Yukiko, waving her non-bandaged hand high in the air, fake smile plastered on her face. "Let's walk home together again!"

The third year startled, eyes suddenly focusing on the world again and staring at Nanako. The expression hardened back to a grim frown, and the teen took the cig out of his mouth. After a few moments of glaring at Nanako, he turned away from the two of them and walked away.

Nanako's frown deepened, and Yukiko's eyes trailed the smoke that followed him.

"Ryotaro?" Yukiko repeated, looking to Nanako. "Who is he?"

Nanako's mouth twisted from one side to another, seemingly determining if she should speak or not. After a bit of humming, she spoke. "That's... my brother. He used to be nicer, and we walked together lots, but..." Nanako stared down at the ground. "...After our mom died last year, we..." Nanako paused. "...he changed."

Yukiko noted the 'we' in the statement. She chose to ignore it. "How so?"

Nanako looked away. "...I don't know. He... He doesn't talk to me much anymore, if at all."

Yukiko stared at the smoke trail that was starting to fade. "...I can try to."

Nanako started. "What?! I mean, you can, but why—"

Yukiko felt the Sun social link power up, and she stormed after Ryotaro, trying to determine where the smoking boy would go to not be seen by his little sister.

Eventually, she ended up at the hill overlooking town, where the cigarette butt was put out and tossed away. Ryotaro was looking over the town, grimace on his teenage face. As Yukiko stepped closer, the teen turned to face her, brushing the stubble he must've not been fully accustomed to yet.

"Hey." He greeted, and Yukiko was expecting his voice something a bit deeper than what she actually heard from his mouth. Ryotaro adjusted his jacket. "Why do you hang out with my sister so much? She's..."

His lips twisted, like Nanako's did, and Yukiko saw a bit more similarity between the two.

"...Lame." He decided on, voice turning a bit rough. "And you? You have a fan with knives in it."

Yukiko's shoulders tensed. "Excuse me?" She bit out.

Ryotaro laughed, a boisterous laugh that seemed to echo through the trees. "I was curious why you went to the Metalworks. I saw Daidara working on what looked like a fan, and then you had that fan..." He leaned on the fence. "Tell ya what. Show me what you can do with that fan tomorrow."

Yukiko bit her lip. Tomorrow there was no club meeting, but...

"It'll be during class, of course." Ryotaro shrugged his shoulders. "You gotta loosen up a bit."

Yukiko half considered showing how her fan worked on him. But another part of her was curious about him.

Andras cooed within her, and Yukiko let her hand drift away from the skirt pocket she kept her fan in.

_ "Aww, aren't you cute?"  _

_ A thin teenage girl rubs the cheeks of a bulldog, curly dirty-blonde hair draping over her shoulders. The dog pants, clearly happy with the attention she's giving it. Souji stands a bit back, hand on his hip and a proud smile on his face. The owner of the dog laughs, especially as the bulldog pushes past the girl's hands and starts licking her face directly. The girl squeals with surprise, hands briefly frozen in the air before she starts petting it's head. _

_ "Itsuki, come on," The owner chides, pulling on the dog's leash, "Don't ruin that beautiful girl's face." _

_ "It's fine," The girl laughs, rubbing at some of the slobber on her face, "I'm happy to be able to be licked by a dog, anyway!" _

_ "Still," the owner laughs, pulling the pouting bulldog by their side, "We need to get going anyway. Itsuki definitely enjoyed making new friends!" _

_ The owner leaves, and the girl pulls herself up off the ground, watching the dog go. Souji steps by her side, offering her a napkin. She's a bit surprised, but takes it, brushing it over the parts of her face that were licked. _

_ "You know, before, I wouldn't have even gotten close enough to a dog to be licked by one." She says, patting her face. Her wispy form turns to Souji, grinning. "I think before I would've died at the very thought. The great, pretty Ai Ebihara, being licked by a dog?" _

_ "What?!" Yosuke chokes out. _

_ "That's Ai-chan?!" Chie follows up, holding a hand to her mouth. "I... How?" _

_ Ai certainly didn't look like this in the past. Ai wasn't alive at the same time Yumi was in high school, and neither were Daisuke and Kou. How was Souji linking them together? These were memories, right? _

_ Sui-Ki points Yukiko's attention to the fragmented power of the social link, and Yukiko feels the power of the Moon at its strongest.  _

_ It was real in some way... but how? _

The Shrine was old, and definitely not used often in recent times. Despite that, the wood was well polished and lacking of dust. Yukiko reached out and rubbed a hand across the offertory box, smiling slightly at the texture. It wasn't overly rough, like wood could be, but it wasn't perfectly smooth either. It was pretty nice.

Yukiko heard some footsteps, and she pulled her hand away from the box, eyes darting in the direction of the sound.

The figure, big and round and covered in a long black robe, froze upon being spotted. Strands of dirty-blonde hair were barely visible beneath the hood. The figure's hands were rough, covered in small nicks and scratches, barely visible from the sleeves.

There was a moment of silence.

"You take good care of this place," Yukiko complimented, right as the robed figure started to step back.

The figure didn't take any other steps back. "...Really?" The figure's voice was soft, frightened. "I thought you were going to run..."

"Why?" Yukiko tilted her head slightly. "You merely startled me, no need to run."

The figure paused at Yukiko's words. Then they stepped closer again, big hands trailing at their hood for a few moments before pulling them away. "...Thank you. You... haven't heard of me?"

"I've heard that there's a mysterious ghost at the shrine who's creepy." Yukiko said, and that was true. "Nothing else."

"...Nothing about Ai Ebihara, the pig nobody wants to love?"

"I haven't."

Ai stepped closer again, before sitting down on the steps. "...I'm... happy about that." She slumped over, face still hidden by her hood. "You're the first person I've been able to talk to, other than my dad."

Yukiko sat beside her. "I'll talk with you, then." Yukiko let a smile grow on her face. "You've done beautiful work, and nobody should be alone."

Ai didn't respond.

Ippon-Datara hummed in Yukiko, and the girl swore to help Ai out in whatever way she could.

_ The misty memory of the shrine looked a bit different from what Yukiko remembered. The structure was the same, yes, but something about how the mist swirled made it feel different. Better, somehow. _

_ Ai would love this for the shrine. _

_ Souji is there in the memory, on his knees and hand held out. _

_ In front of him is... _

_ Yukiko blinks as Kurama Tengu feels what was the remains of a maxed out Hermit Social Link, and the black-haired teen stares at what's standing in front of Souji. _

_ It is a fox. _

_ "A fox? As a Social Link?" Yukiko mutters. She glances up to her team, who are looking at her with various degrees of confusion. _

_ Oh, right. She only told one person about social links. She glances to Purrci, who quickly wipes his own confusion off of his face. "Hm?" _

_ "How can a fox be a social link?" Yukiko asks. _

_ Purrci's tail stands up for a moment, before Purrci smooths it down manually. "Well... if you could understand what the fox was meaning to say, and know its desires, it could be on equal level to a human." Purrci pauses. "Who takes care of your shrine?" _

_ Did that have an emphasis on your? _

_ "Ai Ebihara." Yukiko turns to the misty memory, which was fading away now. There was a strangled noise, and Yukiko turns back to Purrci, who clearly is trying to push down some shock. _

_ "Like... the girl who got licked by a dog?" _

_ "...Yes." Yukiko nods. "Something's odd about this Souji's memories, and I can't put my finger on what." _

**Author's Note:**

> This was what i've been working on since my last arcana swap fic. I got a bit stuck and lost some motivation, but i read a Pretty Great Persona Fic (Forearmed) and my brain was like 'you know... persona time...'
> 
> ... so here you go.
> 
> The parts with Souji's links would take place near the beginning of Purrci's dungeon. The team are not idiots, they're just trying to put pieces together and don't realize these pieces are from another puzzle, so to speak.


End file.
